Career Overview – Juan Manuel Marquez (Part 3)

Challenge: Joel Casamayor (36-3-1), 9-13-08.

Juan Manuel Marquez moves up in weight, from 130 lbs to his new weightclass at 135 lbs. He goes directly up against The Ring lightweight champion — Joel Casamayor. While they keep a solid pace, there wasn’t much excitement on display. But there was a lot of skill, as both boxers fought at a steady, competitive pace throughout. By the 11th round, it was too close for comfort. Two judges had it five rounds a piece at that point. Marquez, perhaps aware of how close it was, catches Casamayor in a crossfire. When Casamayor gets up, Marquez smells the blood and goes for the kill. One of my favorite finishes in the career of Marquez.

Challenge: Juan Diaz (34-1-0), 2-28-09.

As the reigning The Ring lightweight champion, Juan Manuel Marquez came to Texas, for an all out shootout with Juan Diaz. The vacant WBA and WBO lightweight straps were also on the line. The Mexican-American boxer, had lost his first fight the year prior, to Nate Campbell, via split decision. He bounced back beating Australian Michael Katsidis for an IBO trinket. Diaz went all out against Marquez; an aggressive onslaught. Early on, Diaz hurt Marquez with a violent left hook. But Marquez, kept his composure, and even outlanded El Torito with his back against the ropes. As the fight wore on, Marquez started slicing and dicing Diaz up with accurate counters. In the 9th round, a sharp hook to the body and an uppercut earned Marquez the KO victory. This is the fight that made me a Marquez fan. Classic.

Challenge: Floyd Mayweather Jr. (39-0), 9-19-09.

The king of the lightweights, moved up to fight against the pound-for-pound king, welterweight star Floyd Mayweather Jr. This is a dull fight, with the bigger, faster Floyd Mayweather Jr. returning to the ring to soundly defeat the smaller Mexican. Styles make fights. Some styles don’t make fights. This was the latter.

Challenge: Juan Diaz II (35-3-0), 7-31-10.

The first fight was a classic. This rematch was a solid enough fight, not great but not far from bad. Diaz decided to box this time around, and Marquez just too sharp for him. Marquez hurt him at various points, but Diaz defended himself better than in the first fight. Marquez kept his WBA and WBO straps via unanimous decision.

Challenge: Michael Katsidis (27-2), 11-27-10.

Michael Katsidis came into this WBA and WBO lightweight fight shortly after the loss of his brother. He fought courageously, even scoring a knockdown against Juan Manuel Marquez in round three. But as soon as Marquez got up, he was back in control, landing insane combinations on Katsidis. Marquez’ offensive output here was incredible. Like Peyton Manning slicing up a defense incredible. The referee stopped it in the 9th, with Katsidis up but out on his feet. I like this fight a lot.

Challenge: Manny Pacquiao III (53-3-2), 11-12-11.

After taking a joke of a tune-up fight with Likar Ramos, Juan Manuel Marquez moves up for a catchweight (144 lbs( against Manny Pacquiao, with the WBO welterweight title on the line. “Most memorable punches that have landed so far in this fight have been Marquez’s shots,” HBO’s Max Kellerman said in the 8th round. Of the first three fights, I think this is the clearest fight for Marquez. The reason being that there was no knockdowns like in the previous two encounters. Marquez strung Pacquiao along, countering him and catching him off guard like the maestro that he is. The judges didn’t agee with my assessment, as the majority decision of 113-115, 114-114, 112-116 went to the Filipino superstar. Really good fight but the ‘least’ of the four-fight series.

Challenge: Serhiy Fedchenko (30-1), 4-14-12.

With the interim WBO junior-welterweight title on the line, Juan Manuel Marquez returned to box for Mexico for the first time since 1994. He took on journeyman Serhiy Fedchenko. Marquez, looking a bit bulky, tried his best to give his hometown crowd a memorable fight. But it takes two to tango and Fedchenko just wasn’t interested on this night. The interim title eventually was upgraded to full title, making Marquez a champion in four different weightclass. Although, it should be pointed out, this is the weakest of all his major title wins.

Challenge: Manny Pacquiao IV (54-4-2), 12-08-12.

What more can be said about this fight that hasn’t been said. After an 8 1/2 year odyssey, that saw a draw, a one-point debatable loss, a controversial loss, Marquez finally captures his great white whale in Manny Pacquiao. A thunderous overhand punch, one that caught Pacquiao in their first contest, was the first highlight of this fourth fight. It send Pacquiao crashing down to the canvas, for the very first time in their tetralogy. Pacquiao recovered, fighting back strong and knocking the Mexican icon down in the fifth frame. As resilient as he’s ever been, Marquez, bloodied nose and all, came back in the final second of the sixth frame, to effectively shut Pacquiao’s lights out with one, picture-perfect punch. One of the greatest knockouts of all time, and a surefire candidate for “Fight of the Year”.

Challenge: Timothy Bradley (30-0-0-1), Tonight!